Black Valve broken?

Nuendo
1

I was using BV for sidechain compression.

About 15 seconds after the last sidechain signal has completely finished, or even about 15 seconds after the song has started running (anywhere), the compression drops to about -6 dB (see image) and stays there – without any signal being fed into the sidechain and even when the playback has been stopped.

It can only be reset by engaging the bypass switch off/on or feeding something into the side-chain again.
After 15sec side-chain seems to be triggered somehow from the internal signal .

Is this a bug or a feature or am I missing something about this compressor?

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image884×511 80 KB

2

Please be more precise… what parameter or indicator are you referring to in the image?
What platform? MacOs or Windows?
What version of Nuendo?

3

??? > Reduction … dispite any signal, neither in the signal nor in the side-chain.
Win10, PC AMD 3960x, N14

4

Sorry. Not seeing that here so far (Win11, N14).

5

mmhh, that’s funny .

I can even reproduce it on another (AMD) PC with just two tracks.
Exactly as discribed above.

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image874×643 96.6 KB

6

Just tried again matching the setup and settings in your screenshot but still cannot repro. The reduction meter operates as expected and is never frozen here.

7

I did not say that the reduction meter is frozen - it indicates exactly what the compressor is doing: reducing the signal slowly to minus 6 db after about 15 seconds - on his own - WITHOUT ANY sidechain signal, as shown in the picture.
I will check it tomorrow on an win11 intel machine and report.

8

I can confirm the behavior.

I checked it in Cubase 15, there it is fixed I believe.

9

Cannot confirm that behaviour here. The Reduction meter and all other operations of Black Valve function as expected.

10

So here are my results:

PC A:
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X RAM 64 GB
WIN10, latest Updates
PC B:
Intel I7 6900K , RAM 32 GB
WIN11, latest Updates

Both Systems RME HDSPe Madi. Both Systems C15 & N14 latest Versions.

ALL Systems and ALL C & N Versions show the same behaviour:
About 18 seconds after the last sidechain signal, the compression magically kicks in.
I would call it a confirmed bug.
What System are you running ?

11

Last but not least a video:

12

I could easily reproduce the issue as described above using Nuendo 14.0.20 under macOS 13.7.8 on an M1-based MacBook Air. Only two tracks, the first one being the side-chain source for Black Valve on the second. This is definitely a bug.

@joerg63 - you should mark this thread with the “Issue”-tag for better visibility.

1 Like
13

PS: In my second attempt to reproduce the issue it took almost 30 seconds after the side-chain signal ended before the gain reduction kicked in.

14

For me, it’s always around 18-22 seconds before the reduction kicks in.

Unfortunately, this is a terrible mistake because you don’t notice it right away—and who listens to every mix all the way through before sending it to the client? ;-). I don’t have time for that. Client just says: the proportions are wrong, it’s rubbish. You listen to the mix: yes, he’s right.

But you can’t find the cause with selective editing here and there.

As if I had nothing better to do… :slight_smile: